DETROIT — To insinuate that the Detroit Tigers expected this would be asinine.

When they came back from Oakland, having split the first two games there over the weekend, swiping home field advantage in the American League Division Series from the A’s, the last thing the Tigers wanted was to be flying to California for a deciding Game 5 on Thursday.

(OK, maybe second to last: The *LAST* thing the Tigers wanted was to be packing up their lockers for home on Thursday.)

There’s a big difference, though, in what you want, and what you’re prepared for.

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The Tigers may not have wanted to play a deciding Game 5 (8:07 p.m., TBS) on the road for a third straight year in the ALDS, but they were prepared for it.

They were prepared for two main reasons: They have been here before, and they have Justin Verlander ready to pitch on normal rest.

“You don’t want it, don’t want to be in that situation, but it’s playoff baseball. You can’t be surprised by any of those situations. If you are, then you’re probably going to lose already. That’s just the way it is,” Alex Avila said after the Tigers staved off elimination in Game 4.

“In years past, we’ve been able to win on the road, get a game when we needed to, so I think we feel just as confident going there as we would coming back here.”

It was Avila who warned everyone to remember it was a possibility three days earlier, during the first off day in the series on Sunday, when asked if the Tigers would wrap up the series in Games 3 and 4.

“Yeah, that’s a possibility. We have to win the one Monday first, but that’s a possibility. To be honest with you, a lot will be made about, you know, if we don’t, if we split here, having to go back there and play there,” he said.

“Couple years ago we had to do that, had to go back and play New York in New York. And last year we had to win a game in Oakland. So regardless of what happens, we feel pretty confident we’ll win anywhere.”

It’s history that leaves the Tigers no less confident that it’s possible.

While the Tigers are 3-1 in winner-take-all postseason games and 7-5 in games in which they can be eliminated, dating back to 1968, the A’s don’t have as much success closing out series. Dating back to the 1990 World Series, the A’s are just 1-11 in potential clinch games.

“Anything can happen now,” Avila said.

In 2011, the Tigers went back to New York — where Jose Valverde had days earlier promised the series would not return — and beat the Yankees, 3-2. Early home runs from Don Kelly and Delmon Young helped quiet a record crowd at Yankee Stadium, then the Tigers scored the game-winning run off Yankee CC Sabathia, pitching in relief. Just like he did Tuesday’s Game 4, the Tigers turned to starter Max Scherzer to pitch in relief of Doug Fister in that clincher, as well.

Last year, the Tigers handed the ball to Justin Verlander, and asked him to pitch them to the next round. His four-hit, 11-strikeout, complete-game shutout was an emphatic answer of “I got this” to that request.

Consider the request submitted again.

“To be honest with you, I just remember seeing him on the mound. Everything else is a blur to me. It was a huge game and he came up big,” Avila said of his recollections of last year’s Game 5 clincher.

“He’s Justin Verlander. He’s got a pretty good track record. Feel pretty good about the fact that you’re going to have a good game and a chance to win.”

For much of the regular season, that may not have rung so true.

Considering Verlander hasn’t allowed a single earned run in the 19 innings he’s pitched over his last three starts — including seven scoreless innings in Game 2 — and struck out 33 of the 75 batters he’s faced in that span, that sentiment may be perfectly true at the moment, though.

It helps that Verlander has had success in Oakland, as well. In addition to his 16 scoreless innings at the O.co Coliseum between Game 5 last year and Game 2 this year, he gave up just one earned run in six innings in his only start there this regular season.

It helps, too, for the Tigers to know that they’re not in a pitching bind going into the game. With the way the ALDS schedule played out, managers had the luxury of giving the Game 5 start to either their Game 1 or Game 2 starters on at least the normal four days rest.

“We knew it was an option. I don’t want to sit here and tell you we planned on doing it, but it was an option. It worked out good for us,” manager Jim Leyland said. “We took our best shot and we had to because we were behind the 8-ball a little bit.”

Since they had Verlander in reserve, that enabled the Tigers to “take their best shot” in Game 4, using Scherzer in a relief role.

“I went and talked to Jeff (Jones, the pitching coach Tuesday) before the game before I knew what our plan was and said, ‘Hey, I’ll be available if you need me.’ And he said, ‘No, Max is going to be in the bullpen and if he gets in, you will be in Game 5,’ ” Verlander said.

“I think that was probably in their minds. Max has come out of the bullpen, I never have at any point in my baseball career. But, hey, that would be a new and exciting adventure for me. I think it would be a lot of fun.”

So, too, will be a Game 5 on the road, especially in front of a raucous Coliseum crowd. It’s got to be hard not too put too much thought into the magnitude of the situation, but Verlander’s been through that before, too.

“It’s what you play the game for. It’s exciting. This is what you dream of as a kid, be on the mound in a clinching game,” he said. “you don’t pretend. It’s not just another game. The season is on the line. It was on the line for us (Tuesday), too. This whole season, the way we battled and played as a team, comes down to one game, may the best team win.”

Matthew B. Mowery covers the Tigers for Digital First Media. Read his “Out of Left Field” blog at opoutofleftfield.blogspot.com.